Taking Different Paths
by kmarie139
Summary: When her mom loses custody in the divorce after 4 years of being separated from her husband, Valentine, Clary is forced to move back to New York with her dad where she meets new friends as well as reconnects with an old one. The most captivating by far: Jace Wayland. Clary/Jace Izzy/Simon Alec/Magnus AU AH
1. Across the Country

**Hey, guys! So if you already haven't read it, I have another Mortal Instrument Fanfic called ****_Idris Boarding School_****, you can check it out if you want. Also the link to see what the uniform looks like is on my profile. It's from Gossip Girl :)**

**Enjoy!**

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**-Across the Country-**

"This is ridiculous!"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Fray, but there is nothing I can do about it. The case is settled."

"'Case is settled' my ass! There must be some kind of mistake," my mom's tone turned desperate as she pleaded with Mr. Jeremiah, our lawyer.

I sighed, put in my headphones and turned my music up as I tried to block out the conversation that has become a routine in the last couple of weeks.

I seemed like just yesterday my parents were laughing and flinging water at each other as they cooked. But I wasn't just yesterday; it hasn't been for a while. Four years to be exact. I don't know what exactly happened to cause my parents to separate or if it was just one thing. I think that after all those years, they just slowly grew apart until they decided it just wasn't worth it anymore.

Since I was just going into seventh grade my mom believed I would need a mother figure to guide me so I moved with her across the country to Alicante while my older brother, Jonathan, stayed behind with my dad in New York.

Last year, at the beginning of junior year, my mom met this guy named Luke, and they started dating soon after their first conversation. Next thing I knew, Luke was staying over a lot, Luke was moving in and eventually, Luke was proposing. And my mom was saying yes.

My mom filled for a divorce with my dad almost immediately and this summer, instead of going to the beach with my friends and lying around, I was in court, stuck at home or, most commonly it seemed, listening to people argue about what's best for _me_.

"Jocelyn, I truly am sorry, but there's nothing you and I can do at this point. Clary shall leave tomorrow morning to New York. Valentine has already bought her a ticket and she is expected to land tomorrow at 5:25 PM and her brother will pick her up from the airport. She will attend Union Springs Academy for her senior year and after that, once she's 18, she can go and do as she pleases," Mr. Jeremiah tried to reason with my mom as I pulled out my headphones.

I heard my mom sigh. She and Mr. Jeremiah exchanged goodbyes and a second later, the door closed after the sound of retreating footsteps.

I tossed my headphones behind me on the bed and stood up. I made my way over to my closet where an open suitcase lay. Without even looking at what I was putting in, I began throwing everything into the suitcase as I prepared myself to leave everything behind.

"Excuse me ma'am," A feminine voice said, waking from my dreamless slumber. "We are landing, so we ask that you have any carry-ons ready for arrival and for you to keep your seatbelt on."

I nodded to show I heard and understood and watched for a second as she walked away. My dad, being the rich man he is, not only bought me a first class ticket, but also bought the seat beside me so I wouldn't have to worry about 'creepy or fat people taking up all the room'. Or so he said in the voicemail he left me shortly before I was due for departure.

I stood up to grab my bag from the rack over my head and sighed as I found I could not reach it. As I looked around for an attendant to help me get it down as they'd helped me put it up there, I made contact with a cute boy with mocha colored skin. He smiled and made his way over to me.

"Having some trouble?" he chuckled and reached past me to gently pull my bag down and handed it me.

"Thanks," I said, smiling.

"No problem. I'm Jordan by the way," he said, extending his hand and engulfing it in my own as I extended my own to shake his.

"Clary," I responded. "So where are you coming from?"

"Oh, I live in New York but I have family in Arizona. I was visiting them for summer break before I go back to school."

"Oh, really? I was born in New York and raised for the most part but my parents separated a few years back and my mom and I moved to Idris, California. I'm moving back with my dad, though, for—uh, senior year."

"Senior year? Man that sucks; your last year and you don't know anyone."

"Wasn't my choice. Its gets better though," I said as I walked with Jordan through the terminal. "I'm going to Union Springs Academy." I rolled my eyes.

He turned to me, his eyes wide. "You're going to Union Springs Academy for senior year?"

I laughed, "not to sound like a smart ass, but didn't I just say that?" He just kept staring at me shocked. "Why?"

"That's where I go," he explained as I looked at him in confusion. "Union Springs, that's the school I go to," he clarified.

"Oh," my eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh! Wow. Well at least I'll know at least one person."

Jordan started to reply when my phone buzzed against my butt, getting louder and louder with each ring.

"Hang on," I told Jordan, reaching into my back pocket and checking my phone to see that my brother, Jonathan, was calling.

"Hey, Jon," I greeted, smiling as his voice filled my ear.

"Clare! Where are you? I feel like an idiot jumping around trying to find you," he responded, laughing into the phone. I began standing on my tip toes, too, hoping to spot him.

"Who are you looking for?" Jordan questioned from beside me.

"My brother," I said, still looking through the crowd. "He's picking me up!"

"CLARY!" I snapped my head in the direction of the yell and saw my brother waving his hands like a maniac, grinning at me. I couldn't help grinning back as I ran in his direction and ran into his arms.

He pulled me into a hug and spun me around like he used to do when we were kids. Jon set me down, laughing and raised an eyebrow at something over my shoulder. I turned and saw it wasn't something he was looking at but _someone_.

"Oh, Jon, this is Jordan. Jordan, this is my brother, Jonathan."

"He looks nothing like you," Jordan said, looking over Jonathan.

"Yeah we get that a lot," Jon said, lightening the mood as he shook Jordan's hand.

"Well I'll see you soon, Clary," Jordan said, nodding at me. "Later, Jonathan."

Jon nodded at Jordan and turned back towards me, slinging my bags over his shoulder and ruffling my hair. "Off we go, Clare-Bear."

I plopped down on my bed and sighed. Looking around, I noticed my old room looked the same as it did four years ago; I'd have to change that. Jon dropped me off a few minutes ago and my dad wasn't home yet. The car ride consisted of Jon telling me about everything that happened in the past few years. He graduated and now went to NYU for collage. My dad now also coached a high-school football team on the side after his best friend, former-coach of the team, died in an accident. I was excited for my dad to get home, but he was in a meeting at work. My dad was CEO of one of the biggest banks in the United States so he was usually pretty busy.

I stood up to unpack but went my phone buzzed I decided it can wait until tomorrow.

_Ugh, tomorrow_, I thought. I started school tomorrow. I would once again be the new kid. What made it ten times worse was that there was everyone had to wear uniforms. The girls had to wear those plaid skirts and matching plaid ties and the guys wore khakis and blazers.

With that in mind I checked my phone to see who texted me. It was Sebastian. Sebastian was my boyfriend of two years back in Idris. When I found out I had to move to New York we decided we'd try for a long-distance relationship. I know what you're thinking: those never work out. Well call me naïve, but maybe we were different.

**Hey babe. How was the flight?**

_Slept the whole way :)_

**I miss you**

_Miss you, too but I hav school tom. so I gtg_

**k. love you ;)**

_love you too_

I sighed and set my alarm before rolling over and slipping into darkness.

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	2. An Old Friend

**Okay, so a few people decided this story was good so I figured I would give a shot at continuing it. Enjoy and if you haven't seen it yet, their uniforms are on my profile. **

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**-An Old Friend-**

Loud, shrilling beeps pulled me out of my dreamless slumber as sunlight streamed into my room from between my curtains.

I groaned and rolled over, hoping to get more sleep. My eyes started to droop as I begun to fall asleep when a knock on my door pulled me out of the process.

"Who is it?" I asked, annoyance and sleep laced into my tone.

My dad stuck his head in and grinned. "I came to see if you were awake yet. I have a surprised for you before you go to school."

I groaned again as the realization hit me that I started school today, as the new kid. Now I _really_ didn't want to get out of bed.

"Hurry downstairs! There are pancakes waiting." With that my dad closed the door behind him, not, might I mention, without turning on the lights first.

I pulled a pillow over my eyes but not before the light hit them. I sighed and sat up, looking around my room where unpacked boxes still littered the floor.

I pulled the cover back and got out of bed, making my way over to the bathroom connected to my room to heat the shower up. I grabbed a towel from under the sink and stripped down, tossing my clothes into the hamper in the corner. I stepped in the shower and yelped as I found that it was still not completely warm.

After my shower, I got dressed in my school uniform. I wore my tie loose, my shirt untucked and slipped on my brown, heeled boots that went up to my knees. I put on a light coat of mascara and eyeliner that made my eyes pop and threw my unmanageable hair into a high ponytail.

I shrugged at myself in the mirror as I realized that the uniforms didn't look that bad on me; it had a sexy schoolgirl kind of look to it.

I ran down the stairs as the promising smell of coconut pancakes hit me. I smiled at my dad as he handed me a plate.

"Thanks, dad," I said, grinning. "So what's my surprise?" I asked, glancing up at him over the coffee cup I held in my hand.

"I brought your bike over. Well, actually I _had_ it brought over, but same thing," he said, waving his hand. "Either way, it's here."

I jumped up and squealed, a grin nearly splitting my face. The grin was soon gone, though, when I looked down and noticed I was wearing a skirt. Riding a motorcycle to a school that required girls to wear skirts probably wasn't my best idea.

My dad, noticing my change of mood, raised an eyebrow and I internally cursed at my inability to do so. "What? You didn't want it?"

"No, no!" I jumped back up, waving my hands. "No, I want it; I just can't drive it to school in a skirt."

"No worries, then. Take your car," he said, shrugging.

Okay, now I was confused. "Dad, I don't have a car…" I said slowly, as this fact should have been obvious.

My dad surprised me as he laughed, reaching behind him to toss me a pair of keys. I shouldn't have been surprised; since my dad was the owner of one of the biggest banks in America, he usually spoiled me and Jon by buying us things we didn't need. Like a car. Okay, maybe I _kind_ _of_ needed it.

Nonetheless, I jumped out of my chair and ran to the garage, excited to see what kind of car waited for me. I gasped as a silver Infiniti convertible came into view.

"I figured this would work. You always wanted a silver convertible," my dad said behind me.

"Un huh, it works." My voice was one of awe as I ran back into the kitchen, grabbed my backpack and hopped into the car.

"You aren't going to finish your breakfast?" My dad yelled from the door of the garage as I backed out of the driveway.

"Bye, dad!" I sped off towards school, grinning the whole way.

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I found a parking spot easily in the front even though people were starting to fill in. I groaned as I realized a lot of people hung out in the parking lot messing around before school started. Like every cliché movie ever made, when I stepped out of my car, heads turned from every direction to scrutinize me.

Thankfully my phone chose that time to ring, saving me from the awkwardness of wondering where to look.

I swiped my finger across the screen without looking to see who was calling and put it to my ear.

"Hello?"

_Someone's up early, _Sebastian's voice rang through my ear and I smiled.

"Yeah, for the same reason you are. High schoolers everywhere are unwillingly out of bed for the glorious event of the first day of school," I responded, sarcastic yet amused.

He laughed._ How is it down there?_

"Currently? Everyone's staring at me and probably wondering if my hair is naturally this red and who this sexy guy I'm talking to is." His laugh filled my ear as I continue. "Oh, and my dad brought my bike over and bought me a convertible," I said, grinning at the memory.

Right then a tall girl sauntered over to me, smiling. She was gorgeous; her hair was long, shiny and ink black and she had big, brown eyes with long lashes that girls kiledl for.

"Hi," she spoke. "You must be Clarissa. I'm Isabelle but most people call me Izzy." My eyebrows shot up in shock that she knew my name. Sensing this, she continued. "You're dad talks about you to his team, and you know high school, word spread that there'd be a new girl."

"Clary, actually," I said, nodding then I remembered I was talking to Sebastian as his questioning voice rang out through the phone.

"Hey, babe," I said, still watching Isabelle. "I gotta go. Yeah, I'll call you later. Bye, love you, too." I hung up and slipped my phone into my bag.

"Boyfriend?" Izzy questions.

"Yeah," I laugh.

"Well, if you'd like I could show you to the office and your classes; it's easy to get lost in this building." She starts walking and I follow her.

"That'd be great, thanks," I said, smiling.

"Izzy!" Isabelle and I looked up at the sound of her name being call to see a familiar face walking towards us. He looked over at me and his eyes went as wide as mine probably were.

"Clary?" He sounded shocked.

My mouth lifted up into a grin as I took in my childhood best friend from when I lived in New York. "Well, if it isn't Simey," I said, using the nickname I had for him as a kid.

He grinned and enthusiastically pulled me in for a hug, laughing. "It's been ages, Clare! What are you doing back in New York?"

"Parents," I said, and he gave me a knowing nod.

A throat cleared beside us and I looked over to see Isabelle giving me a death glare. I was momentarily confused on why until Simon kissed her on the cheek and gave her a quiet 'morning'.

I laughed. "No, no, no. Wrong idea. Simon was my best friend as a kid. I haven't seen him since I was twelve." Izzy smiled and laughed, nodding her head in understanding. "And besides, there's no competition."

"Thanks," She said. "We should probably go get your schedule."

I nodded and Simon slung his arms around our shoulders leading us, I presumed, to the office.

This day might not be so bad.

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